Schools to offer some supervision during strike

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Most public schools will remain open tomorrow despite calls from the teachers' union for all members to strike for 24 hours.

As of 4pm yesterday, 67 per cent of public primary and secondary schools will be offering minimal supervision for students who show up, NSW Department of Education figures show. Most closures will be concentrated in the inner Sydney basin and the union heartland of the Hunter and Central Coast.

Open schools will rely on skeleton teaching staff who have chosen to ignore the NSW Teachers Federation's strike call.

But the federation's president, Maree O'Halloran, has disputed the department's figures, and dismissed the suggestion that the industrial action may not be as well supported as anticipated.

"We're getting reports that there will be very good support for the action," she said. "I'd like to know where the department has got these figures from."

Chris Bonnor, the president of the NSW Secondary Principals Council and principal of Davidson High School, said schools could remain open with as few as one senior teacher. "I've got one head teacher and administrative staff, so technically, my school's open for any student who might show up, but I don't think any will," he said.

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The strike was called amid claims of NSW Government interference in the Industrial Relations Commission. The commission is expected to finalise a new award for teachers by the end of next month, having already granted a 5.5 per cent interim increase. The federation is arguing that a 25 per cent increase is warranted, but the Government has refused to guarantee that any pay rise over 6 per cent will be fully funded through treasury, and not from the education budget.

More than half - 1121 - of the state's primary schools will open tomorrow, with 512 closed, according to the department. Of the high schools, 155 will close and 297 will remain open. The decision is made by principals, says the Education Department.

Those regions with more than 70 per cent of schools open include the North Shore (79 per cent), the Riverina (83 per cent), Western NSW (89 per cent), New England (76 per cent) and Sydney's west (71 per cent).